


Uzumaki Naruto should just stop touching things.

by FuzzyBlanketsAreBasicallyLikeSex



Category: Animal - Fandom, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Haruno Sakura, BAMF Uchiha Sasuke, BAMF Uzumaki Naruto, Character Death, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)-centric, Eventual Relationships, F/M, How Do I Tag, Huddling For Warmth, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Team Seven is done with this shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-22 06:02:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9587015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuzzyBlanketsAreBasicallyLikeSex/pseuds/FuzzyBlanketsAreBasicallyLikeSex
Summary: It was totally Sasuke's fault. Naruto would have never touched those creepy statues if he hadn't seen Sasuke about to do the same; he had to beat that bastard to it, after all!





	1. Wow, look at the size of those claws.

“Naruto,” snarled Sakura from her position by the fire,” I swear to God if we make it out of this alive, I’m going to bash your head in with a textbook and hope it’ll make you smarter.” From off in the corner of the house they had holed up in, a grunt of agreement came from Sasuke.

Naruto huffed angrily. It wasn’t his fault! How was he to know that touching those creepy dog-beast-thingy statues was gonna make them come alive? Granted, Kakashi-Sensei did say paws off, but fucking come on! It shouldn’t have been that big a deal! It’s not like anyone had died, besides maybe their fucktard teacher. 

Sure, Sensei got dragged off into the bushes by one of those things, but he was a Jounin for a reason: he could definitely handle it. Maybe? Yeah, Kakashi was toast, but Naruto wasn’t going to voice his opinion to his irate teammates. He was pretty sure they were all in slight shock from watching their strongest member get dragged into the woods by the claws through his leg. As unaffected as he was acting, he still had to clasp his hands together to keep them from shaking, desperately trying to keep a hold of his usual mask. 

He had to appear okay to his teammates, as they already looked ready to murder him for turning a simple C Rank escort mission for Genin into an A Rank hunt-and-destroy mission better suited to a squadron of ANBU. There was no need to add fuel to that fire. Naruto was their scapegoat, and he knew it. Hell, if he showed any sort of weakness right now, Sakura and Sasuke’s fear would get the better of them, and they wouldn’t be able to hold back their anger at him looking so vulnerable, when their Sensei was probably dead. He loved them, Bastard included, but they could be harsh sometimes.

Naruto let out a loud sigh from where he sat on the stairs, blatantly ignoring the scowl the Bastard shot at him. The huffy dick-face didn’t get to say anything about how stupid he was, considering he had been just an inch away from touching the statues when Naruto beat him to it. Sakura chose to ignore the fact that Lord Tree-Up-The-Ass was almost as guilty as Naruto. Honestly, Naruto wouldn’t be surprised if Sasuke didn’t show up for training one day because Sakura had him tied up in her closet. Why did he have a crush on her again? 

“Dobe,” barked Sasuke from his darkened corner. Seriously, the guy was so dramatic. Would it kill him to get closer to the fire? The stupid shitstain was probably freezing his ass off just to look ho- cool. He meant cool. 

“We need to find more firewood. I already lit the fire, and Sakura set it up. It’s your turn to find something, since it’s your fault we’re here.” 

Apparently gathering the wood to start the fire in the first place didn’t count, and neither did picking the lock on the door to get them in here. Don’t forget the fact that his Shadow Clones -Henged as furniture- were the only things keeping them safe from death-by-disembowelment. 

With a roll of his eyes, Naruto lurched up from his place on the bottom step, dutifully trying his best to ignore the roar of agony from his stomach. One of the dog-monsters had taken a swipe at Sasuke’s back as they were fleeing and Naruto, not having time to shout, had thrown his body in the way and let himself get run through. Never let is be said that he wouldn’t do anything for his team, even if they hated him. 

If he reached behind him, he could feel the three big holes in his back that echoed the wounds carved into his stomach, but his teammates hadn’t noticed yet. Probably because he’d lost his orange jacket in the struggle to flee, and all he was wearing now was his thin black undershirt.  
And apparently they couldn’t see the six large holes from where the claws entered and exited, but he never considered his team to be the smartest. But they did have pretty faces, so he’d give them that. Even Stick-Up-The-Butt didn’t look that bad in the right light, but Naruto would never tell him that.

But back to his stomach, because that shit hurt like a motherfucker. Strangely enough the wounds weren’t healing and dripped black instead of red, but Naruto figured the Kyuubi would eventually beat whatever the hell was stopping the wounds from closing up. Sure, the cut's smelled terrible and seemed swollen, but it was the fucking Kyuubi, after all. Right?

 

Thoughtfully,Naruto wandered into the dusty kitchen in hopes of finding a loose floorboard to pry up or something, honestly not expecting much. But nope, Jackpot! Next to an old-fashioned wood burning stove, a huge pile of firewood dozed in the moonlight streaming from in between the boards covering the windows. Naruto thought it was strange the windows had been boarded up when they got here, but to each his own. If the former owners wanted to board up the windows, then that was fine by him. Naruto liked his privacy too.

Besides, there were much weirder people in Konoha, one such example being himself and the rest of his team. A pink-haired banshee with split personalities, a brooding avenger with pyromania and a penchant for styling his hair like a duck's ass, a one eyed Ex-Anbu captain with silver hair who read porn in public and was perpetually late to everything, and finally him. A luminescent Jinchuuriki who liked to prove his stealth by skulking around the village painting and blowing up all the shit he could get his hands on, sending Anbu and Jounins alike on a merry goose chase around Konoha to try and catch him. And they weren’t even the weirdest team out there, that title firmly belonged to the Sannin. Hands-down.

Naruto shook his head away from that train of thought and went over to gather as much firewood as he could handle at the moment, being careful not to put too much pressure on his stomach. It already hurt like a bitch. Speaking of bitch, if he didn’t bring it all back in one go, Sasuke would call him a loser but get the rest himself. Smirking, he dropped most of the pieces back in and went to stand up. Straightening out of his crouch, he glanced out the window and froze in shock. The monster dog stood right outside the window, looking in from between the boards.

The creature’s eyes glowed orange from within it’s wrinkled skin, while deadly fangs loomed down past it’s chin. It’s warm breath fogged up the window slightly, but Naruto could still make the serrated yellow teeth in it’s jaw, three rows deep. It’s black tongue flickered out of its mouth to test the air almost like a snake’s would, and those horrible pupil-less eyes narrowed as the things nostrils flared in its snout. Suddenly, it pulled back his lips and growled from deep inside of its throat, so loud Sasuke and Sakura could probably hear it from the next room. 

Naruto abruptly scowled, feeling something strange bubble up from his stomach, and it wasn’t pain or fear. It was something primal and animalistic, sewn into his DNA from the moment he was conceived. The bestial nature of the Kyuubi had been with him literally his entire life, and some of the habits and attitudes of the fox had unintentionally rubbed off on Naruto. And now was a prime time for those deeply ingrained instincts to rise to the surface.

Naruto snarled wordlessly, baring his teeth in an unnatural parody of the Bijuu inside of him. This fucking mutt was challenging him. Him! This fucker had already threatened him and his skulk, but now it had the nerve to challenge him too? What was this stupid animal going to do next, invade his den and threaten the kits?

Naruto’s thoughts turned more animalistic by the second, for once perfectly in tune with the fox side of himself that he so desperately tried to bury. He did not notice the wounds on his stomach start to smoke, red blood replacing the black sludge as it was burned away. 

Unbidden, his pupils turned to slits, red surrounding them like rings of deadly fire. His canines lengthened by inches, claws shooting out in place of nails, digging into the firewood he still cradled in his arms. The whiskers on his face became more pronounced, his hair standing on end. His posture hunched, several cracks signalling his body trying to accommodate to a more bestial form. Red chakra swirled behind him into a miniature, insubstantial form of the great Kyuubi no Kitsune, thoroughly startling his teammates, who had come to investigate all of the commotion. Sakura shrieked and grabbed onto Sasuke, the boy letting her for once. Naruto looked utterly feral.

From deep in Naruto’s chest, a rumble sounded. It grew louder and louder with each second, and the creature outside the window somehow appeared to be alarmed. Just as it seemed like the growl coming from Naruto’s throat couldn’t get any louder, he and the flickering fox image behind him opened their mouths and, in tandem, roared.

Chakra the color of blood swirled throughout the house, all of the Shadow Clones popping as they were exposed to the corrosive chakra. It leaked down to the very foundation of the house, swirling into the air like some giant whirlwind made of hate and human evil. Everything it touched became infused with demon chakra, if even just a drop. The house would forever be imbedded with it. The only ones left unaffected were Sakura and Sasuke, watching in stupefied horror as it drifted harmlessly around them. Even Naruto was affected, small patches of skin peeling from any exposed part of his body.

Finally the house couldn’t take it anymore, and with a whoosh of air, the chakra escaped through every possible hole. It flew throughout the forest surrounding the house, and ensnared the dog creature outside the window. Sasuke and Sakura watched in horror as the creature bayed and whimpered, frantically trying to escape from its bounds. After what seemed like an eternity, the beast finally wasted away, with only a small pile of ash left on the ground. 

Surprisingly, it was Sakura who was the first to say anything. ”Naruto,” she whispered fearfully, ”What the hell was that?” Naruto didn’t answer, only rocked gently back and forth.

“Dobe. Naruto.” This time it was Sasuke who spoke. “We’re talking to-.” He got cut off as the smoking firewood in Naruto’s arms clattered noisily to the floor. The brightly clothed knucklehead swayed dangerously in his spot in front of the window, beginning to tilt backwards. Sakura let out a small cry of worry as Naruto collapsed like a puppet with it’s strings cut, Sasuke already shooting forward to cushion his fall. He was barely able to grab the back of Naruto’s shirt and cushion his head with his wrist, grunting in surprise at the weight as Sasuke yanked him into his arms. But what alarmed him the most was the unidentified wetness soaking into the front of his shirt from Naruto’s back.

“Sakura,” Sasuke hurried out, “I think he might be bleeding.”

Sakura collapsed onto her knees beside both boys, hand already digging into her pouch for a roll of bandages. But before she could even get her hand around it, a creak came from the next room. Both teammates froze, widened eye’s connecting in a moment of horrified comprehension. They’d forgotten something vitally important: there were three of those creatures, only one of which was dead. And judging by those pops they heard earlier, there were no more Naruto Shadow Clones guarding the door either. The beasts were inside the house.

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Sasuke-kun,” Sakura whined desperately, “What are we going to do?”

“Shh!” Sasuke hissed from between clenched teeth, making Sakura snap her jaw closed. They couldn’t afford to make any noise right now, especially since their heavy hitter was down. Even though this was only their second ‘C-Rank’ mission, the Genin had already established an order amongst themselves. Naruto was the heavy hitter and infiltrator, Sasuke was the one who gradually wore down the opponent and goaded them if need be, and Sakura was the one that provided support and laid subtle traps. 

Even though they had already had their roles decided, that didn’t mean they still weren’t nervous fourteen year olds on some of their missions. And this mission was making them very, very nervous. Deciding on what to do, Sasuke caught Sakura’s wide eyes with his own, gesturing with his head for her to take Naruto. Still frowning slightly at being spoken to so harshly, she complied nonetheless. 

Sasuke gently shifted him into her arms, freezing whenever they made even the tiniest sound. It was going well until Naruto’s sweaty head rolled backwards, and their hands swiped out fruitlessly as his headband slid off, making a muffled thud as it hit the floor. They froze, their heads swiveling towards the door, bodies tense as they prepared to fight or flee. Luckily, the beasts seemed to have found something to keep them occupied; from the crunching sounds coming from the next room, Sasuke could tell it was their rations bag.

‘Damn!’ Sasuke cursed to himself as he lifted himself himself to his feet, padding silently to the kitchen door. They were going to need energy if they even had a hope of getting out of this, and without their ration bars it was going to be a hell of a lot harder to get home safely. 

He gently leaned against the doorframe, one hand going out to sit on the doorknob. Glancing back at Sakura, he thrust his palm out and turned back towards the door. They both ignored the fact that his fingers were trembling ever so slightly. Taking a deep breath, he lowered his raised hand to his weapons pouch and gently eased the door open a crack.

He couldn’t make out anything at first, but the light of the fire made his eyes adjust quickly. Thoroughly unprepared for what he was about to see, he only just managed to repress his hiss of shock as he finally made out the hulking creatures. It had been dark when they were running from them before, and the one they had seen in the window appeared to be the baby of the three. They were easily two times the size as the one outside, grotesque muscle bulging out of leathery skin.

They were routing frantically through their bags in the corner, disgusting snorting sounds coming out of their mouths. Sasuke barely contained a hysterical snort as he saw one of them wearing a thong as a hat, its claws easily slicing through the rest of Sakura’s numerous articles of clothing. He felt himself tense as a ration bar got caught behind the hind leg of one, and the scrabbling paw sent it flying towards the door to the kitchen. Without thinking about it, he took a soft step into the room and caught it, the soft wrapper specifically designed to not make a noise as he stuffed it into his pocket. Deciding to risk it, he crept forward a couple of more steps and grabbed Naruto's water canteen, sitting half empty on the stairs. 

Stepping back cautiously, he deemed them distracted enough for an escape attempt, so he slowly closed the door. But Sasuke made a fatal mistake; he forgot to hold onto the doorknob. The old metal snapped back to its original position with a deafening rattle, immediately followed by Sakura’s terrified mutter.

“Oh God.”

Sasuke slammed his back up against the door as a brutal thud came from the other side, the wood bulging inwards from the force of the blow. He frantically applied Chakra to the soles of his feet to steady himself, his nails cracking open as his hands glued themselves onto both sides of the entrance way. He could feel the skin on his feet burning as the desperate flare of Chakra stung his skin, but that didn't matter. What matter was the horrible hissing noises coming from the other side of the door, accompanied by throaty, wet huffs. Sakura shrieked in fear as a claw came through the wood next to Sasuke’s head, close enough to leave a thin line of blood dripping down his cheek. Another claw came through by his hip, rending a long gash on the smooth skin.

“Sakura, get out of here! Take Naruto and go, I’ll be right behind you!” Sasuke demanded.

“But Sasuke-”

“Get going!” Sasuke spat out, digging his sandals into the floor as the pounding behind him got even worse. The hinges rattled ominously from where they were screwed in, the wood around them starting to splinter. Not needing to be told a third time, Sakura tearfully threw Naruto over her shoulder and exploded out the back door, dead sprinting for the woods. Sasuke panted, grabbing desperately at the door frame. He had to give them enough time to get into the woods, or he’d never forgive himself. As loath as he was to admit it, they were the only family he had left, and he'd be damned if they were hurt because he couldn't keep his grip for long enough.

After a minute, Sasuke could feel the wood behind him start to buckle, and decided it was time to get the hell out of dodge. Taking a deep breath, he yanked his nails out of the doorway and rocketed forward towards the exit, bloody fingers already weaving together to form the hand signs of his family’s signature Jutsu.

“Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!”

A large ball of fire ignited the doorway in front of him, but Sasuke was going fast enough to dash through before it truly caught. Still, he felt the flames briefly lick up the side of his torso, leaving a swath of stinging skin behind. The beasts, a step behind him, skidded to a stop as the flames flared brightly into the air. The dry wood of the house easily caught fire, the whole building ablaze in a matter of seconds.

Sasuke felt a moment of regret for not being able to grab Naruto’s headband, but quickly shook it off. He was closing in on the woods, and needed to focus on tracking down Naruto and Sakura before the things behind him managed to make their way out of the house, as Sasuke had no doubt’s that they would. He quickly scanned the ground, looking for any clues as to where Sakura had gone, because any halfway decent Genin would have already taken off and- “Sasuke-kun!” Well, he did say halfway decent. Too bad Sakura was a little worse than that.

“Sasuke-kun!” Sakura hissed again from somewhere off to his right, and his head snapped towards the sound this time. Glancing around, he was slightly surprised he didn’t see any immediate sign of where she was, and had a moment of irrational panic when he couldn’t find his teammates.

“Sasuke-kun!” Sakura again, louder. “Up here!”

He allowed his head to fall back, eye’s scanning the darkened leaves of the trees. He caught of glint of pink shining in the moonlight from the corner of his eye, and finally managed to make out Sakura. She was crouching on a thick branch about twenty feet up, Naruto’s head dangling over her shoulder from where she had thrown him on her back. Even with only the moonlight to see with, he could identify the blood soaked into her shirt. He grimly concluded it wasn’t hers, but Naruto’s.

“Come up here, Sasuke-kun! We can use Chakra to tree-hop, the underbrush is too thick here to run in. Hurry!” 

She beckoned him up with an impatient hand, shooting a pointed glance back at the burning house. Sasuke, needing no further encouragement, was up the tree in a few quick bounds. As soon as his feet touched the branch, he gripped Sakura’s arm and immediately hopped to the next. She followed along obediently, for some reason hardly seeming to notice Naruto’s extra weight. He shook it off, thoughts focusing on how much chakra to put into his legs to make him faster, but not drain himself. They had to cover some distance, and fast, if they wanted a chance at getting those things off their trail. 

About five miles later, they both nearly crashed to the forest floor as they heard twin screeches of rage behind them. They shared a grim glance, their brows furrowed and mouths set. The hunt was on.


End file.
